Dancing Hands
by A. Zap
Summary: Mob and anyone else who had ever met Reigen Arataka couldn't help but notice the way his hands move while he talks. It just never occured to Mob that Reigen could move his hands about with an actual purpose. Based on my headcanons for Reigen.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Mob Psycho 100 or any of its characters. If I did, there would be an official English translation of the manga already (though I know that's probably not ONE's decision).**

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Dancing Hands

Mob had long grown used to the wild and erratic movements of his teacher's hands. Reigen's hands talked as much as his mouth did, their exaggerated motions following along with whatever he was saying.

There were times though when it seemed like it was more than just the spastic nature of his teacher that would be moving them. Reigen would usually just be waving them this way or that in time with what he said, but other times his hands slipped into a rhythm and motions that seemed… purposeful almost. Gestures that seemed to say more than simply emphasize Reigen's words.

However, Mob didn't put too much thought into it.

That was, until that client came.

It was a normal enough day. Reigen had taken Mob out to eat as he had come in earlier due to a shortened school day. Dimple tagged along as well, and he and Reigen were arguing as usual. It was as they were coming up the stairs to the office that they spotted her.

The young woman stood in front of the office door, fidgeting nervously. She glanced between her watch, the door, and a flyer in her hand that Mob recognized as one of the ones plastered throughout the neighborhood.

For a second, Mob thought he caught a flash of color near her ear, but he couldn't be sure.

"Ah," Reigen said as he noticed her, "can I help you?"

She didn't react to his call and Mob frowned a bit. Frankly, Reigen wasn't the quietest person in the world, so she should have easily heard him.

Reigen frowned, too, and he watched his teacher study her a bit more closely. He saw a spark of realization light up his eyes before Reigen put down his foot a bit harder on the step than usual, Mob feeling the vibrations under his own feet.

The woman startled suddenly and whirled around to face them eyes wide.

"Ah, hello!" Reigen said with a smile and a wave. "Can I help you?" He asked again.

A blush rose in her cheeks and she stood there for a moment, seeming at a loss for words. Then she hurriedly tugged a whiteboard, as well as a dry erase marker, from her bag. Turning the face towards her, she wrote something down before flipping it back for them to see.

"Hi. I'm Gen Shizu. I think I'm being haunted." It read.

Mob wondered why she wrote this down and shared a glance with Dimple, who also seemed puzzled. He then glanced over at Reigen to see if he knew what was going on. "Master?"

Reigen looked like something had just been confirmed for him. He nodded to himself, before his hands seemed to launch themselves into the air. His fingers seemed to form several gestures, his expression changing a bit with each move, and at one point he even seemed to point at his ear. He never took his eyes off of the woman before him, though Mob and Dimple could only stare at him in bewilderment.

Something must have gotten through to her though, because her whole face visibly brightened. Quick as a wink, her board was shoved under her arm and her hands responded in kind, quickly slapping together in her enthusiasm.

"I see." Reigen said as she finished, his hands moving in time with his words. "Go ahead and come in." He pulled out the key, unlocking the door and moving aside for her to enter first.

"Oh, she's Deaf." Dimple realized first and Mob blinked as he too put the pieces together. Reigen threw them a raised eyebrow as he followed the client inside.

"Yes." He replied, and he turned his attention back to Miss Shizu. He settled her down on the couch before asking, "Mob, could you please make her some tea?" Unlike his previous answer, this time the words were accompanied with signs so Miss Shizu would understand as well.

Mob nodded and got the tea together, taking the time to study their client. He couldn't recall actually meeting someone who was Deaf before. Now that he looked at her more slowly, he could see the hearing aids in her ear, but given the way she was following Reigen's gestures, and responding in kind with her own, he wondered if those were mostly for show.

He also took note that there were no spirits actually haunting her. It looked like this was a Master Reigen problem anyway.

Mob gingerly took the tea over and made sure the client could see him coming before setting it down. She smiled and did a sign at him, placing her fingertips on her chin and gesturing outward.

At Mob's confused look, Reigen translated, "'Thank you.' 'You're welcome' is the same sign in return."

"Ah." Mob said, and returned the motion. Her eyes crinkled up in endearment at his efforts.

As Miss Shizu picked up the tea and took a sip, Reigen shot Mob a look, and he gave a subtle shake of his head. He figured that Reigen had probably figured out that this wasn't a haunting, but it never hurt to check.

"Alright!" Reigen smiled as the client set down her tea and looked up at him. His hands moved together with his words, and Mob figured that he was mostly speaking for his benefit. "Could you tell me more about your problem?"

Reigen translated her words as well for Mob and Dimple as she spoke with her hands, and, sure enough, the usual symptoms emerged: stress at work, heavy shoulders, trouble sleeping, and just feeling more down than usual. It was nothing his teacher couldn't fix, Mob knew.

And sure enough, Reigen nodded and assured her that he could indeed exorcist the ghost. However, as he set her up, Mob then noticed a difference from the normal procedure.

"Now, my methods involve a lot of touching," Reigen warned, his fingers practically snapping, "so if you would leave your palm up, I can tell you where I will be touching. If you are uncomfortable, we can stop at any time."

Though Miss Shizu had looked a little anxious at first while he was explaining what he would have to do, this seemed to reassure her and she smiled before laying down on the massage bed.

It really was an odd experience for Mob, who was so used to Reigen's meandering voice as he did his work. This time, the massage was pretty much silent, though he always made sure to sign into her hand as he moved about, no doubt explaining where he was going and why he was doing what he did like he always did. Still, neither Mob nor Dimple were used to Reigen being so quiet.

It was weird, but in a way, Mob decided it was kind of nice. After all, this all led to the comfort of Miss Shizu, which was why they were here in the first place.

Once Reigen was done with his work, Miss Shizu certainly looked more relieved and relaxed than she had when she had appeared at their doorstep. As Mob rang her up, she and Reigen continued to converse, both of their hands and expressions shifting at the turn of the dime. All too soon, she was bowing her thanks and waving good-bye as she left.

"Hmm." Reigen said thoughtfully as he cleaned up from the session and sat down at his desk. "What a nice young woman."

"If you say so." Dimple harrumphed and he shrewdly glanced at Reigen. "So it seems like you have more than a gilded tongue."

"Eh?" Reigen looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you can BS even when you aren't talking." Dimple said, gesturing towards the door.

"Sign language is a way of talking. It's just different than spoken language." Reigen rolled his eyes, his hands emphasizing his words like usual. Though Mob could now see the difference between his regular grand gestures and the fast-paced and sharp movements from when he was signing.

Dimple and Reigen went back and forth, their bickering a comforting background noise. Mob didn't pay much attention as his thoughts drifted back to the client that they'd just have.

"Why do you even know sign language in the first place?" Dimple eventually asked, which startled Mob from his thoughts.

"Well," Reigen rocked back in his chair, his thoughts obviously drifting back to a different time and place, "there was a boy in my class in elementary who was Deaf. He didn't have anyone to else to talk to."

"You learned just to talk to some lonely kid in your class?" Dimple seemed incredulous, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Ah, no. He actually moved to a different school by the end of the school year. That's just what got me to start learning and I kept it up." Reigen flexed his fingers and glanced down at them. "I'm glad that went pretty well; I'm a bit out of practice."

"You call that out of practice?"

Reigen ignored Dimple's question to glance at Mob. He frowned slightly at whatever he saw there. "Hey, Mob, is something on your mind?"

"Don't ignore me!"

Mob looked over at Reigen and gathered his thoughts. He thought about how easily Reigen had been able to talk to Miss Shizu with just his hands and gestures and how she had looked about it. He thought about how happy she had been to have someone understand. He thought about how cool Reigen had seemed at that moment, even more so than usual.

"Do you think you could teach me, Master?" Mob sincerely asked.

Reigen blinked in surprise. Then a wide grin crossed his face. "Of course, I would be happy to teach you!" His hands swept around in a wide arc before resting underneath his chin. "As your teacher, it is my duty to ensure your education. And really, more people could stand to learn sign language."

Dimple snorted. "At least there's something you can actually teach him for once."

Reigen tched and shot a glare at the spirit. In no time at all, the two were back at it again.

Mob, however, just smiled at the two of them, feeling a bit of happiness at Reigen's acceptance of his request.

Master Reigen really was the best.

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 _AN: So I posted my headcanon that Reigen knows sign language on Tumblr, and it's been pretty popular. So I decided to expand the headcanon into a full fledged story. Sorry about any mistakes about the specific signs I mentioned; I basically know only the minimum of ASL (which is what the mentioned signs are from not the Japanese version) and once I actually have free time, I want to seek out some classes. (I tried to see if I could take some during undergrad but the classes were only open to intervention specialists). That's why I don't go too in-depth about it._

 _Also, about the hearing aids, Shizu actually cannot hear at all, however, I've learned that some Deaf will wear hearing aids regardless just as a way of letting other people know. Her name is also shown in the traditional Japanese way with her surname first, so Shizu is her given name._

 _Well, I hope you enjoy and I'll see you around._


End file.
